They also released the official set of film classification guidelines to the public online in 2010, which included a thorough explanation of what sort of content and themes is allowed under each film rating. [55][56], Examples of movies given several controversies, Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, Info-communications Media Development Authority, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, Restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_legdisp.pl?actno=1998-REVED-107&date=20060115&method=whole&doctitle=, "Singapore relaxes censorship of television sex and violence", "A louder uncensored discourse on censorship", "One Rule to Rule Them All: a Study of Singapore Censorship", "Why MDA reclassified racially satirical movie", "Singapore's SEX. Over the years, Singapore has gradually moved away from film censorship to film classification. In the 21 st century the challenges to the book continue. For example, (as of November 2007) the video game The Darkness (due to presence of graphic violence and swear words) and more recently Mass Effect from BioWare due to the in game option of a homosexual romance if the player chooses to play as a female. In February 2008, the Academy Awards acceptance speech for the short documentary Freeheld was censored by Mediacorp in the rebroadcast of the program due to the filmmakers' mention of equal rights for same-sex couples as it violated the Free-to-air TV Programme Code.[34]. Netflix did not specify how many government requests it received in total. Cover Picture for … The popular Singlish sitcom Phua Chu Kang was singled out in a National Day rally speech. [4] In July 2016, the IMDA officially greenlit R21-rated content for Over-the-Top (OTT) services. FAMILYVALUES Banned For Racial Content", "Singapore Bans Film, Director Vows Appeal", "Producers of Sex.Violence.FamilyValues to appeal MDA decision", "Sex.Violence.FamilyValues given R21 rating with edits", "Ban on 'Sex.Violence.FamilyValues' lifted, movie given R21 rating", "The Media Development Authority (MDA) says the film is not allowed for all ratings as contents undermine national security", "Martyn See's "Singapore Rebel" film gets green light : Channel NewsAsia", "Singapore not ashamed of low rank for press freedom", "TODAY: S'poreans are fed, up with progress! Prohibited material was any content or activity that could be seen as "objectionable on the grounds of public interest, public morality, public order, public security, national harmony, or is otherwise prohibited by applicable Singapore laws." [6] Likewise, the French film Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013) had to have an explicit and prolonged lesbian sex scene sequence considerably edited down to secure the R21 rating. However, the English language Pay-TV channels currently available for scheduled broadcast in Singapore comprises only Asian regional channels such as Fox Channel Asia, Star World and WarnerTV, which are outside the editorial control of the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) as they operate on a regional scale and the same standard of censorship is carried out across the entire region because these channels have to conform with laws from the more conservative areas in Asia, meaning most territories in Asia watch the same censored version. [23] On 14 June 2013 the Asia Internet Coalition voiced their concerns.[24]. 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